Tragic Court Martial of USS Indianapolis Captain December 4, 2009

"Capt. Quint" was on the USS Indianapolis; In this scene from Jaws he concludes his story with "anyway, we delivered the bomb."

On This Date in History: On July 29,  1945, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The cruiser was returning from Tinian Island where it had secretly delivered the atomic bomb. Because it was a secret mission, details of its schedule were shrouded. So much so that its late arrival went unnoticed. The Americans had intercepted a message from the sub describing the ship they had sunk. The Americans just assumed it was a boast and didn’t follow up. If you remember Jaws then you know the story as told by Captain Quint, who said he was a crew member of the doomed ship. Nearly 1200 men were on the ship.

Captain McVay

About 400 died from the torpedo blast. Some 900 men went into the water but only 318 were rescued. No one showed up for a rescue for 84 hours in during that time nearly 500 men were devoured by sharks. Quint said he’d never wear a life jacket again. The Captain of the Indianapolis, Charles B McVay III, never sailed again and on this date in 1945  he became the only officer in US naval history to be court-martialed for losing a ship in war time. McVay committed suicide in 1968 and many speculate he took his own life due to guilt.   His father had been a Rear Admiral in the US Navy and that most likely just added to his grief.  But, during the Clinton Administration, Captain McVay was exonerated from fault by Congress in October 2000.   In spite of the Congressional official exoneration, the US Navy records still indicate the Captain Charles McVay was found guilty in a Court-Martial for losing the USS Indianapolis while he was in command.

Here is a link to a message board regarding Captain Charles B. McVay.

Weather Bottom Line:  It’s going to stay chilly over the weekend.  Our average high this time of year is around 49 and Saturday and Sunday we will have highs somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 degrees below that.  On Monday, another system drops down that may bring a rain snow mix or some insignificant snow.  What I am more interested in resides later in the week.  By Wednesday or Thursday, another system drops down and moves through.  The GFS was advertising about a half inch of snow.  It’s interesting because the GFS is the model that got the snow right today for Houston.  The NAM was claiming it would be dry.  The TV stations haven’t caught on to this feature yet as they too say rain…but I think that it holds some promise…but its 5 days away so we’ll see how it unfolds.  Needless to say…we ain’t warmin’ up any time soon.  We’ve shifted out of that November pattern that brought us one of the few warmer than average months in 2009.

“In God We Trust” Unconstitutional? Unjust Court-Martial of USS Indianapolis Skipper? July 29, 2009

Unconstitutional?

Chase Thought Motto on Money was a Good Idea

On This Date in History:  President Eisenhower signed into law a bill requiring “In God We Trust”  (link to a history on “in God we trust’)  be put on all currency and be considered the official US Motto on this date in 1956.   Since 1864, during the Civil War, the motto had been put on some coins but not paper currency under the direction of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase.  Chase later went to the Supreme Court, which is ironic considering the “separation” issue allegedly begun by Thomas Jefferson. The “in God We Trust” bill was just two years after Eisenhower pushed for “under God” to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance.

 Most historians conclude this action was part of a reaction to the Red Scare of the 1950′s. Interestingly, “under God” was inserted into the US Pledge of Allegiance during Eisenhower Administration.  Eisenhower himself has been said to have admitted the he had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, while more modern accounts suggest he was raised as a Mennonite. Sources say that Ike abandoned his family religion but that religion was still important to him and in 1953, he was baptised as a Presbyterian, less than a year into his first term as President.

Ike Liked the Motto

Today people claim the insertion of God into state mottoes and the pledge is a violation of the separation of church and state. Many defenders of the verbiage mistakenly think that the inclusion of God was mandated by our founders when in fact, “under God” and “In God We Trust” did not come along until after the founders were dead and gone.   However, there are many who say that the founders intended on the Constitution to protect the churches from the government, not the government from the church…the proverbial freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.  You make the call.  If you need some help, here are some pros and cons of both “in God we trust” and “under God.”

On this date in 1945, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The cruiser was returning from Tinian Island where it had secretly delivered the atomic bomb. Because it was a secret mission, details of its schedule were shrouded. So much so that its late arrival went unnoticed. The Americans had intercepted a message from the sub describing the ship they had sunk. The Americans just assumed it was a boast and didn’t follow up. If you remember Jaws then you know the story as told by Captain Quint, who said he was a crew member of the doomed ship. Nearly 1200 men were on the ship.

Captain McVay

About 400 died from the torpedo blast. Some 900 men went into the water but only 318 were rescued. No one showed up for a rescue for 84 hours in during that time nearly 500 men were devoured by sharks. Quint said he’d never wear a life jacket again. The Captain  of the Indianapolis, Charles B McVay III,  never sailed again as he became the only officer in US naval history to be court-martialed for losing a ship in war time.  McVay committed suicide in 1968 and many speculate he took his own life due to guilt.  But, during the Clinton Administration, Captain McVay was exonerated from fault by Congress in October 2000.  In spite of the Congressional official exoneration, the US Navy records still indicate the Captain Charles McVay was found guilty in a Court-Martial for losing the USS Indianapolis while he was in command.

Wed Evening

Weather Bottom Line:  We have some consensus and also some disagreement in the forecast for the next several days.  First off, we had a lot of clouds on Tuesday and even some showers with rumbles of thunder.  That put the kabash on any chance we had of getting to 90 and it now looks inevitable that we will not get to 90 degrees for the entire month of July in Louisville.  First time since records have been kept…I think since 1872….that we have had zero 90 degree days in Louisville.  Remarkable considering that the official numbers are now kept at the airport. 

We have agreement that a front is coming through.  We have agreement that a wave will ride along that front.  The timing is the issue.  The GFS likes rain in the morning and late day, the NAM likes rain midday.  The GFS has rain again on Thursday and also Friday.  The NAM has rain Thursday afternoon into early Friday but dries it out from there.  Both suggest a relatively mild and dry weekend.  Now, the parameters for all data are not overly exciting.  There is an elevation in the Showalter Index and the Total Totals and such but nothing real alarming as the SWEAT index is somewhat pedestrian.  Strong storms with gusty winds from time to time are possible, but nothing appears imminent on the severe weather front.